What Does It Mean to Be 13?

I, personally, would never go back to being 13 again. I remember my teen years as a very rough ride and I remember them when I talk to my middle school students when they come to talk to me - boys are a big issue as well as parents getting on their back. Sex is huge - from the clothing they want this age to wear, make-up, making out, movie and magazine portrayal - all a huge money maker for this age. Students have a lot more disposable money than ever before as well - where are they getting all this money from? I find students are a lot more material oriented from previous generations - is it because parents want more for their children? I see parental involvement drop - yes, it's because both parents are working and no one is paying attention to the student. So what can schools do? Mentoring, role models, connect to them, listen to them. As a previous article stated (and other evidence we've read before) students do better when they feel their teacher is connected to them.